JIS handbook, 22 Electronics II Optoelectronics, first edition, edited and published by Japanese Standards Association, published Jan. 31, 2005, p. 322 (NPTL 1) describes an optical connector including a ferrule that holds an optical fiber, a ferrule assembly including the ferrule, a frame member that contains the ferrule assembly, a plug housing that contains the frame member and that is to be connected to an adapter, and a rear housing that is connected to the plug housing and through which an optical fiber is inserted.
Recently, optical connectors have been assembled at work sites outside dedicated factories. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-82257 (PTL 1) discloses an optical connector that can be assembled at a work site. In this optical connector, a short optical fiber having a polished end face and inserted through a ferrule is fusion-spliced to another optical fiber, and the fusion-spliced portion is reinforced by being covered with a reinforcing member.
In the optical connector described in NPTL 1, the plug housing and the frame member are attached to the rear housing in that order. Although the plug housing can be easily connected to the rear housing, the frame member must be inserted into and fixed to the rear housing while allowing the ferrule to be inserted into the frame member and positioning the frame member. Therefore, when the optical connector described in NPTL 1 is assembled at a work site, the optical connector preferably has the structure described in PTL 1 from the viewpoint of workability. However, the frame member of such an optical connector cannot be easily attached, and there is a problem in that it is cumbersome and takes a long time to assemble the optical connector at a work site.